After the by-election
It was because of the return of Indian and Malay votes, as well as another factor that should not be ignored, namely the success of BN to reduce abstention votes from 1466 to 731, with the difference of 735 votes. If all of these 735 votes were cast for BN, it meant that the return votes of Indians and Malays were actually not as many as the general public thought.
By LIM MUN FAH/Translated by SOONG PHUI JEE/Sin Chew Daily
The Hulu Selangor by-election result is not too surprising but the message and meaning conveyed through the the election process and result are still worthy of our study.
The focus of the political parties after the election, as always, is on the voting tendency of different races.
Based on the preliminary observation, the Hulu Selangor by-election is basically not much different from the 8 March general elections. Even though Pakatan Rakyat’s candidate Datuk Zaid Ibrahim was defeated, PKR still received 95 more votes. Meanwhile, Barisan Nasional’s candidate P. Kamalanathan won the by-election with a majority of 1725 votes. It was because of the return of Indian and Malay votes, as well as another factor that should not be ignored, namely the success of BN to reduce abstention votes from 1466 to 731, with the difference of 735 votes. If all of these 735 votes were cast for BN, it meant that the return votes of Indians and Malays were actually not as many as the general public thought.
Both Malay and Indian votes indeed showed a return tendency but it was an undeniable fact that as many as two-thirds of Chinese still preferred PR.
Most of the Hulu Selangor Chinese voters were not affected by BN’s people-friendly policies during the election campaign. Undoubtedly, BN would be very disappointed and it might lead to a different interpretation, affecting the future political direction.
The following are four points of my personal thought, hopefully they can inspire others to make a reflection:
Firstly, Hulu Selangor Chinese voters have chosen PR. Instead of simply saying that they are against BN, it is better to say that they are actually against extreme, conservative and racial policies. They prefer a political party that advocates liberality, openness, fair and pluralism.
In order to win back the support of Chinese voters, BN must show a greater determination to reform, abandon extreme and conservative policies and prove that it will continue reforming and opening up, instead of distribute candies only during elections.
Secondly, if the right-wing and hard-liners in UMNO wish to prove their “legitimacy” with the by-election result, and want to lead UMNO towards a more extreme and conservative direction, it will then the start of another mistake. Such a mistake will eventually force voters, who are still supporting BN or having a glimpse of hope on BN, to vote against it.
Thirdly, PR should carefully review after the battle that should it set the next goal to seize the federal political power in the next general elections, or be more pragmatic to first rectify its internal problems, manage well its state, strengthen the party so that it is more reliable, as well as consolidate the “two-party system” before launching a powerful attack?
Fourthly, since votes are no longer counted collectively but separately from one ballot box to another, the voting tendency of different races are clear. It can indeed help political parties to make adjustments on policies and strategies based on the voting tendency of voters from different racial groups, but at the same time, it has also highlighted racial issue in elections. Choices of voters should be kept a secret and thus, should such a “transparent” vote counting system be reviewed?
